Are You Better Off Than You Were Four (Eight?) Years Ago?

That’s all Obama really needs to say. Jobless claims are at the highest level since 2002. That news brought the stock market down again. But, hey, one item us up: oil prices. True, some applicants discovered they were eltibile for a new 13-week extention, bringing up the number a bit, but the averages don’t look good, and non-farm payrolls are down for the seventh month in a row.

The four-week average — which attempts to smooth out weekly volatility — jumped by 26,750 to 419,500, the highest level since July 2003 and well above the 400,000 mark that’s usually associated with recessions.

Nonfarm payrolls fell for a seventh-straight month in July, the government said Friday, pushing the jobless rate to a four-year high of 5.7%. Barring an unexpected reversal in weekly claims and economic conditions as a whole, payrolls will probably fall again this month.